Wiped
by orsumfenix
Summary: The Seven are erased. Percy is the only one left. Nico saved them both, but now only a past Nico remembers and Percy has only fragments. Them and Reyna must try and return their friends. But at what cost to themselves?
1. Chapter 1 - Percy

**Well, I was wondering about how powerful Gaia was one night, and what to write in my new story, and this idea came to me. It's basically where Gaia has wiped all of seven, excluding Percy, from history. Now, a past Percy, his 'guide' past Nico, and past Reyna must fight to get their friends back, or Gaia will win the war. So, enjoy and review! **

**Disclaimer: I am a female, so I'm not Rick Riordan, and I don't own these characters, just the plot. **

_"What if this doesn't work? What if it fries my brain?"_

_The boy looked exasperatedly at his friend, who had been complaining ever since he had proposed the idea. They didn't have time for this. Reality was falling apart around them. Next to the boy, a knife began to unravel, the visions it usually provided no longer appearing, because it no longer had an owner to give them to._

_The boy turned back to his friend, who was pacing up and down nervously, no doubt thinking about his girlfriend, and what it would mean for her if this didn't work._

_"It'll be fine," the boy tried to reassure him. "Look, I'll go first, how about that? Then if it goes wrong, you can try to fix it." His friend laughed bitterly, probably thinking the same thing he was. If only their other friend, one that would instantly know how to fix it, was here. But no. He was gone, just like the others._

_His friend took a deep breath, coming to the conclusion that this was the only way he was ever going to get his friends back._

_"Okay. Let's do it."_

**_September, After the war with Kronos…_**

**Percy **woke up with a pounding headache. Trying not to hurl, he stood up and stumbled towards the kitchen as the world tipped sideward and lurched violently. His vision blurred. He grabbed the edge of the kitchen counter, knuckles turning white under his fierce grip.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to ignore the nausea. _Just let it pass,_ Percy told himself. _It'll be over soon._ His eyes flew open as he checked for any double vision.

When his sight finally cleared, Percy leant back onto the counter, breathing heavily. It had stopped for now, but who knew when it would happen again?

He slowly walked back into his room, trying to regain his footing. Gods, when he could he ever get a break? He'd defeated Kronos – what more could anyone want from him?

He'd had these episodes ever since he could remember, but they got worse as the years progressed. They were only small until he arrived at Camp Half Blood, but then they rapidly began increasing. No doctor had ever been able to tell him what was wrong, and he doubted any doctor would. Even Chiron had said it was nothing like he'd ever seen.

Malcolm, one of his best friends and counsellor the Athena cabin, had once suggested it was something to do with memory loss on their first quest. Maybe his subconscious knew things that Percy didn't, and it was trying to remind him of something important.

It was partly because of the fits that he'd refused immortality. The gods had offered it to him, and he'd stood there, when one of them came on. It reminded him that he was mortal, he wasn't meant to be a god. He had to be able to take a risk. Maybe, one day, he'd even fall in love.

_Love. _It used to seem so hopeless to him, until he met Rachel. They'd started dating for a while, too. He'd seen her when he bathed in the River Styx. But then she became the oracle of Delphi, and they were forced to break up. It felt really weird when they were going out, like he was cheating on someone, even though he'd never had another girlfriend in his life. Rachel must have felt it as well, because she had confessed to him once that it felt wrong to be going out.

Now, his life was slowly returning back to usual. Percy had returned to Goode High, as the main battle was in August, and he didn't really miss much in the school days. He still returned to Camp Half Blood in the holidays, to see Grover and Malcolm and all that.

"Honey?" his mother wandered in to see her son sitting on his bed shivering. He'd had these fits for years; she wouldn't even have to wonder why. "It happened again?"

He nodded, trying for a weak grin. She smiled back sadly. It obviously pained her to see him like this. It pained him to _have _this. Lots of doctors had wondered if he had epilepsy, but they'd scanned him when he was having a fit. It wasn't a seizure, so what was it?

Sally bustled over and hugged him, seemingly unaware that he didn't hug back. His mind was elsewhere. Percy caught hold of a vague memory where someone was holding him like this. It wasn't his mum, no, he wouldn't have been suspicious of that. It was someone else. Someone he loved in a different way. Not Rachel either. Someone he close to, someone blonde…

But that was ridiculous. The only blonde person he was close to was Malcolm, and he wasn't exactly a girl. So, that memory must be more vague than he realised. It probably was him mum. SO why did he feel so uneasy?

Curious, Percy began to search his mind, but the memory had darted away, like it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. So why…?

"Percy, are you alright?" He looked towards his mum. She looked back at him with concerned eyes. What was he thinking about again? That was weird. He couldn't remember.

"I'm fine, mum." He got up and paced about. Just tired, that's all. I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Is it about the war?" He looked at Sally. He loved her, he really did. But sometimes he wished she wouldn't _worry_ so much.

"No, actually. It's something else. It feels like something's – missing."

0000000

As he sat in school, he couldn't concentrate. His mind kept drifting to other things, probably the ADHD. But it kept drifting to things that had nothing to do with anything in the lesson. When the teacher said Pluto, as they were talking about space, he pictured a jewel, and stacks of greetings cards. When they mentioned Mars, he thought of a set of bows and arrows, along with a burnt stick melting ice chains.

When he got home, he was very surprised to see Nico waiting for him. The younger boy sighed in relief when he saw him, like he'd been waiting for a long time.

"Percy, thank gods. I just got my memory back, so now we have like, eight months to get the others back. Why are you looking at me like that?" Percy stared at his friend in confusion the son of Hades was creeping him out.

"Nico," he asked cautiously. "What are you talking about? What others?" He gaped at the son of Poseidon.

"You seriously don't remember?" He muttered profanities that Percy knew Sally probably wouldn't approve of. "This is bad. This is very bad. How are supposed to…? I mean, it worked for me…"

He trailed off, glancing at Percy, cursing some more. When he eventually stopped, Nico sat on a chair in shock, it seemed. He groaned.

"Look, Death Breath, I have no idea what you're talking about, so if you would care to explain, I would be like, _really_ grateful."

Nico looked up at him, frowning. "If you _really _don't remember," he said like he was expecting Percy to yell, "GOT'CHA!" at him. "The, well, this is about to become a whole lot harder. You're supposed to know the layout, what monsters we'll have to fight, how long we can remain undetected… If the machine didn't work, then we won't know any that?" He stared at him with serious eyes. "Are you _sure _you don't remember?"

Percy nodded.

"If I did, do you think I would be thinking you were crazy?" Nico glared at him.

"I'm not crazy," he stated coldly. "I am completely serious right now. And if you don't believe that, then you're not going to see Annabeth again."

"Anna-who?"

Nico stared at him like he'd grown a second head, which Percy figured would have made more sense than Nico at the current moment. _Annabeth. _The name seemed familiar, but he just couldn't place it.

In a very spontaneous rage, the son of Hades punched a wall.

"God dammit!" He glared at the floor. "We were winning, for Zeus' sake. Couldn't you have just given up? We'd beaten you, you coward, and what do you do? Erase us!" He snorted bitterly, and Percy wondered if he had completely taken leave of his senses.

Nico seemed to notice Percy was still watching.

"Sorry," he apologised. "It's just that _someone_," he glared at the floor again. "Couldn't accept her defeat, and that's why we're in this mess to begin with." He ran a hand through his hair, obviously stressed. "And, well, that stupid machine didn't even work for you, so now this mess just got a whole lot bigger."

0000000

Percy wasn't quite sure who this 'Reyna' chick was, or why his apparently mentally ill cousin wanted him to Iris Message her, but with an angry son of Hades glaring at you, you tend to do as he says.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Reyna at…" he trailed off, glancing at Nico helplessly.

"Camp Jupiter," he supplied, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Whereas Percy still couldn't get over the fact that there was a Roman camp in the first place. Nico wouldn't tell him any more than the fact that they supposedly had friends there, and the camp defeated Krios.

The mist shimmered, and a girl with obsidian eyes came into view, petting some robot dogs. When she noticed them, she yelped.

"What kind of…?" she seemed at a loss for words. Then, she narrowed her eyes. "Who are you? Did Octavian have something to do with this?" She said the name Octavian with distaste.

"Praetor Reyna, daughter of Bellona," Nico said, surprising both of them. "Long time, no see."

"And I am also the slayer of Krios," she informed dryly. Nico arched an eyebrow. "It appears you know me, but I have not the faintest clue who you are. Would you care to explain?"

So Nico began his rant that made no sense of how Percy should remember 'the others', and that the ground is a filthy coward who should have let them win. Percy zoned out, even though Reyna seemed to be listening intently, with her permanent scowl still etched on her face. Percy looked back just as Nico was saying,

"-Jason."

"You say all this," Reyna stated, cold and emotionless. "As if I should know. As if I should know what you're talking about, and who these…people are. Yet you have no evidence that you aren't simply trying to trick me, to some purpose. How do you expect me to believe you?"

Nico started pacing up and down, the way Percy had that morning.

"Hades if I know! But, look, my sister has been erased, along with her boyfriend, Percy's girlfriend, your best friend, his girlfriend and their best friend. And if we don't get them back, then we will _all _die. So, yeah, you _should_ believe me, but you never liked to see the best in people, did you?" Her nostrils flared. She frowned, as if contemplating whether or not to yell at them and then cut off the connection. But she must have decided against it, because she sighed heavily.

"Octavian…is joint praetor. I assume you know him too. You must realise that I have to tell him this. He has ways of finding things out, and if I don't, I will no longer be praetor, and no longer able to help you. I do believe you, Nico di Angelo, if that is indeed your name. Your story is too preposterous to be made up, though I do feel as if you are not telling me everything. But Octavian may be a problem. He will not listen past the word Greeks, then war will be declared. I want peace, but I must have more information than the fact that you have to stop the people being erased, and you remember because of a machine that allows you to. I need to know if it is truly worth the betrayal of New Rome."

"Yeah," Percy found himself agreeing, turning on his friend. "I wanna know who this Annabeth girl is, and how come this machine thing didn't work for me?"

Nico scowled.

"Reality was unravelling! It's a miracle it worked all. That stupid woman left us to unravel and disintegrate!"

Reyna was about to say something when, a guy called her name in a shrill voice. She cursed under her breath.

"Octavian." She turned back to them. "I will not tell him, for now. But be warned, it cannot stay a secret forever." And so Nico waved his hand through the mist, cutting the connection. Percy whistled.

"She was hot." Nico slapped his arm. Percy held it. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You have a girlfriend, idiot!" Percy frowned.

"What, that Annabeth girl? I don't even remember her. Apparently, she never even existed now."

"But you _loved _her, with all your heart. And she loved you back. You went into _Tartarus_ with her, just so she wouldn't have to go alone. I don't care that she's not here – you're _not_ gonna cheat on her, get it?"

Percy gulped and nodded.

"Is Annabeth hot?" Nico rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.

"Even without the others, you're an idiot. Now, come on."

"Where are we going?" Percy questioned as he followed Nico down the stairs.

"To see if we can get your memory back, I mean, maybe it's just buried? Anyway, I suggest that we shadow travel. To Alaska."

The di Angelo grabbed Percy's arm, grinning, and melted into the shadows, dragging Percy with him. The world spun and turned black.

When they re-emerged, they were standing in front of a huge glacier.

**Please review! Once I know at least ****_someone's _****read it up, I'll put the next chapter up. I already have six chapters written, I just don't want to post them if no one's reading. (I have an account on Wattpad that has this story on.) **


	2. Chapter 2 - Reyna

**Okay, the second chapter is in Reyna's point of view. She's going to play a major role in this, so I figured she should get her own passages. I hope you enjoed the first chapter, but I'm not so pleased with either of them. I'll have to try and make them longer, and with more action. I hope thy improve. So, REVIEW, and tell me what you think, how to improve. **

**Discalimer: I'm not Rick, I don't own PJO, HOO, etc... All I own is Haley Ammor. **

_The boy faced the girl. She smiled sadly._

_"I have to do this," she informed. "It is my duty." He shook his head, reaching a hand out to her._

_"No, you don't have to do this. We'll find another way. Just step away from there." She shook her head, still smiling, which confused him. She was smiling, and she was about to kill herself._

_"To save the world," she said, as if she knew what he was thinking. "I have to save the world."_

_"But the others are waiting in the next room," he protested. "They're expecting you to come back with me. If I return alone, they'll freak." The boy sighed as he looked her over, somehow the both of them staying calm. "Please," he muttered. "There's been enough casualties. I don't know how anyone's gonna handle it if we lose you too."_

_"Those casualties, I'm here to put a stop to them. I'm not gonna finish this journey, I never was. We all knew that." She smiled, even wider than before. "I promised, all those months ago, that if I die, it will be protecting him. An oath to keep with a final breath."_

_When the boy returned to the others, they asked where the girl was. His answer was simple._

_"She's gone."_

**Reyna **sighed as Octavian ranted on about the war games, saying that New Rome spent too much time playing them, and should instead issue a quest to find the Syllabine books. She resisted the urge to groan. Ever since he received that warped prophecy, he insisted that they recover the books to see what it meant.

"Octavian," Reyna interrupted when she could take his whining no longer. "Perhaps we should discuss another matter. You have been talking about this for days now." His nostrils flared, but he sat down next to her, muttering about the wrath of the evil teddy bears. Something told her she wouldn't have to worry too much about that.

Most of the senators looked relieved to hear a break, but some weren't listening in the first place. She could see Bobby, Gwen's replacement, snoring in the first row. Gwen had been killed on Mount Othrys by Krios. It was unfortunate – if someone had noticed him sneaking up behind her, they might have been able to save her.

Then, the earth began to shake.

It was only small at first, but the tremors escalated until they were rocking the whole senate. All the Senators were falling around, desperately trying to stumble out or cling to each other. Lars were flying around in a panic, so fast that they became blurs of purple.

Reyna held onto the table, not really caring when it dug into her hands. Next to her, Octavian shrieked like a maniac, tempting her to slap him upside the head. She gritted her, and began manoeuvring herself through the crowds of screaming Romans.

Dakota had spilled all his Kool-Aid, so he on his hands and knees, frantically crawling around as if that would somehow mop it up. A previously sleeping Bobby was running around in circles, screaming like a toddler throwing a tantrum. She shoved the two of them aside, not caring when they wailed for their parents. She had to get to her Praetor's house.

00000000

When the shaking finally stopped, Reyna put her head in her hands and began to shake herself. This meant that everything the di Angelo boy that called her was true. She'd spent her whole life trying to be the best, to get the attention of her mother, and when she thought she'd finally done it when she defeated Krios. Finally, people could see her as a hero. But apparently she wasn't supposed to have defeated him, some guy called Jason had.

The di Angelo had said that Gaia, the awakening Earth goddess, has wiped these people from history, and the only reason that she had believed him was because of the dream she'd had.

In her dream, Reyna was running with eight other people. She now recognised two of them as the boys that she had talked to, di Angelo and Jackson.

"We have to be quick," a blonde guy was saying. "Gaia is awakening. She is almost at her full power. We've wasted enough time already." Dream Reyna sighed.

"Again, I am so sorry. Octavian-"

"Reyna," he said, whilst stopping to place a hand on her arm. "This is not your fault." She smiled and hugged him. Nearby, she could see a pretty brunette shooting her the evils.

"You're right," a voice at the back said. Dream Reyna turned to see Jackson and a blonde girl looking really uncomfortable. It was the girl that had spoken. "If we'd never fallen, then you would never have had to come and get us, and…"

"No," di Angelo said firmly. "It's nobody's fault. But right now, we've gotta keep running."

So they all resumed running, silently going through underground corridors. Then, di Angelo and a small girl stopped.

"Someone's coming," the girl warned. "I can sense it."

"Me too," di Angelo cut in, taking her hand. "It's an army, pretty big. There's no other way around. We're gonna have to fight."

"Jason?" a chubby Asian kid asked. "Percy? What do you guys think?"

Just as they were about to answer, the final group member, a Latino guy, started,

"Guys…"

Then Reyna had woken up.

Even she admitted that was the most annoying part to cut off at, but she had a feeling that whatever came next wasn't good in any way.

As she sat in her house, she pondered why she should bring back these people. If it meant that she would have to work even harder to gain respect, and they lead her into battles, then why should she return them?

But she knew that she couldn't betray them, even if she only had this dream to go on. She somehow knew that her mother had sent her that dream, so it must have been pretty accurate. It seemed like this blonde guy, Reyna assumed that it was Jason, seemed to care for her. The brunette had seemed pretty niffed at her, but there was a certain chemistry that she could sense, a strong bond between the nine of them.

Octavian entered, panting heavily.

"Praetor," he gasped, his skinny face bright pink. "What was that?" She shot a glare his way.

"How am I supposed to know? You're praetor, too, you know the same amount I do." _That's not true,_ a small part of her said, but she chose to ignore it.

"Y-y-yes, Reyna. Of course," He panted whilst nodding thoroughly. It amused her that she seemed to intimidate him. He stumbled out, still muttering his apologies.

She sighed and leant back on the chair she had seated herself on, closing her eyes and trying to relax. Gods, the world could never just give her a _break_, could it?

"To work," she muttered as she got out a sketch pad, and began to draw each of these people's faces. _It might help to remember them, _Reyna told herself. _When the time comes to get them back._

Her attempt was pretty poor, to say in the least, but it would do. It was enough to remind her of what they looked like. She pinned them to the wall, so every night and every morning she would see and remember. Even though she wasn't sure of much, she was sure that someone was trying to make her forget them. Not Bellona, no, she was trying to remind Reyna. Gaia. That's who it must be.

She groaned. Life was messed up.

00000000

"Reyna, I'm worried about you."

She turned to the daughter of Venus, Haley Ammor, who was sipping at her hot chocolate tentively, like it would jump out and attack her. Haley was always delicate, sensitive, worried. _Yeah, that's why she's worried about me,_ Reyna reassured herself. _She doesn't know about these Greeks, and how they're really getting to me._

"I mean, since the day of the earthquake, you've been more withdrawn than usual. And I haven't seen you smile in _ages_. Not since Gwen…"

"Gwen was my best friend," Reyna stated bitterly. "I don't just get over things like that."

"I know, I know," Haley reassured. "And, Gwen was like a sister to me. She was my cousin, in fact. Through my dad and her mum. Her mum well, _hooked up _with Apollo, and my dad with Aphrodite, and the two were siblings. But that's beside the point," she added when she saw Reyna's face

"And, what is the point exactly, Ammor?"

She didn't look pleased at being called by her second name, but she quickly recovered, patting Reyna's hand. The daughter of Bellona resisted the urge to slap her away.

"The point is," Haley said in such a sickeningly sweet voice. "If you ever want to talk about Gwen, then I'll be here for you. Just come to me." Reyna rolled her eyes, resisting puking. Haley was just so sickly sweet, that was basically all there was to her. She was so _nice_, but the child of Bellona couldn't tell if she was naturally like that or if she had some ulterior motive.

The latter actually seemed likely, given who Haley was dating – Octavian. It made her shudder every time she thought of them, saw them going on walks together. She felt bad for Ammor; surely the augur was just using her for some reason. But she seemed to genuinely love him, somehow. And if he really did love her, then who was she to break them up?

Reyna longed to love someone. To have that one person to be completely and utterly obsessed with, to have that one person that means everything. To have someone that was _hers_. She didn't want to have to fight for someone, just to have someone.

_"Oh, come on," _Nico had exclaimed when the Jackson boy had zoned out. _"Surely you must remember **someone**. Surely you must remember Jason." _It had seemed too good to be true, but maybe Jason was that one.

But, no, she had sensed the tension when he'd hugged her in Bellona's dream. Jason was the brunette's. Even Reyna could see that.

"Well then Am – Haley," she corrected, standing up and brushing brownie crumbs from her toga. "I'd better be getting back to work."

"Don't!" The daughter of Venus looked like she was going to hurl at the mention of the word _'work'_. "Take some time off, Reyna. You deserve it. You look ill, if you don't mind me saying, praetor."

Reyna glanced at the mirror next to their booth, and was surprised to see that Haley was right. She had large bags under her eyes, and she looked thinner than she remembered.

"Gods, Reyna, your skin's practically green!" Haley was right. "And you're probably still feeling ill from that earthquake." Haley was right. "You don't even know what caused it!" Haley was not right.

At least, partly. Reyna knew that the ground was alive, Gaia, and was rising. But she didn't know why she was causing earthquakes when she could probably just erase them from history, like she had the others, according to di Angelo. Jackson didn't really seem to believe him either, but Reyna got the feeling that they were good friends. She didn't even know them, and she found herself trusting them. And she had only ever trusted Hylla and Gwen before, that she knew of. She must have trusted the others, the ones that were wiped.

Her sister had helped Jackson and that friend of his, Malcolm. He was an Athena child, she guessed, from what di Angelo had mentioned from the brief descriptions of the others. Reyna hadn't been fully under Circe's power, she was too young at the time. She had been feeling a little ill at the time, and managed to mix up Hylla's potions by adding one of the magical sweets that she'd found when asked to remove Percy and Malcolm's clothes from the room, one they'd been turned into guinea pigs. Hylla had realised the only way off the island, and helped Jackson and the Athena child to escape. She was still held captive by the pirates, both of them were, but they managed to escape and go their separate ways.

"Reyna?" Haley asked tentively. Her attention snapped back to reality, where Ammor was watching her in concern. She laughed nervously. "I thought you'd gone into a trance there. But, guess what?!" _You're going on a date with Octavian? _"I'm going on a date with Octavian!" _Wow. So unexpected. _But Reyna tried to look thrilled for her.

"That's…great, Haley. Really." Ammor looked thrilled at just this small comment.

"Thanks, Rey-Rey." The praetor internally groaned. _Rey-Rey? Seriously? _

She just had to hope that soon she would be contacted by Nico di Angelo and Percy Jackson, possibly to get her friends back.

**Okay, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'll try to update regularly, and maybe even fish this story. Who knows? I hope Reyna doesn't seem to OOC in this character, but I'm not very good at writing in her POV. **

**Like I said, about six chapters written, so I should I put them all up at once or about one a day. REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Nico

**I hope you all like this chapter. It took a whole day, so you'd better appreciate it. **

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. I don't own anything. But, if you want a fourth POV, just tell me who and I'll see if it could fit in with my storyline. So, thanks for reading!**

_The boy kind of wished that one of the others could come and do this instead of him. Sure, it wasn't as difficult as some of the trickier tasks, but he didn't want to do this. Of course, he still had to. Everyone had their duties, and this was his._

_He walked down the passage, creeped out by the fact that it was silent, that things were going smoothly. That usually meant something bad was going to happen. The calm before the storm._

_The boy looked beside him to see his friend, the one that would be helping him. His friend smiled nervously, that trademark smirk dancing over his lips._

_"Come on," his friend said. "Let's get this over with."_

_The boy looked in front of him, to see that they'd reached the door. Oh, gods. The last time he was here was when he was with the girl, and that hadn't turned out well. **I'm not gonna finish this journey, **she'd said. **I never was. **She wasn't one of the chosen ones. Neither was he. Did that mean that he was going to die too?_

_Time to find out. With a deep breath, he pulled on the door, and, to his surprise, it swung open. Oh, right. He'd forgotten to lock it in his shock earlier._

_"This is it," the boy said, his friend turning to face him. "The beginning of the end." His friend shook his head._

_"The beginning has come and gone. This **is **the end. This is it. We're going to end this." They both glared at the door._

_"Yeah," he replied, his voice raspy. "Together."_

**Nico **looked in apprehension at the glacier. Hazel had told him about it when he was on the Argo II, and about the big battle she, Frank and Percy had there against Hades/Pluto's nemesis, Alycenus. They had won, but Frank had almost burned up and Percy fell off the side. Nico briefly wondered what would be up there, as Hazel had sacrificed herself to stop him from rising so early. But, then again, it was because of her gift that he was there in the first place. So, he assumed Alycenus wouldn't be up there.

Huh. That meant the fifth cohort still had their eagle, and was still respected at Camp Jupiter. He wondered if that meant Hazel and Frank were still in it, but then had to remind himself that they'd been wiped. They never existed now.

It sort of hurt to think back. On some of his memories, like on the Argo II, it was fine, like any other day in his life. But on the ones with Annabeth and Malcolm, like when they were kidnapped, it felt awful. He remembered two versions of it. His vision would go blurry of it, and sometimes the two people would merge in his mind, confusing him. When he thought back to when he started visiting Camp Jupiter, he could also remember Octavian being praetor, as well as Jason. The images of tem both danced around in his mind, teasing him, making him decide between the two memories. He could remember rescuing Hazel, but he could also remember walking away in defeat, alone and without either sister.

Nico and Percy were standing on a boat that was obviously meant for transport to Hubbard Glacier. Everyone on board was so busy gawking at the size that they didn't notice the two new arrivals. Nico had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Percy frowned at it, like some of his memories had gotten through as well. He hoped so.

Percy and Nico had had to cram as much information as they could about the war and the main base, so that they could have a huge advantage over Gaia. Each had remembered separate parts though, as reality was literally falling apart around them. They'd had a lot of information in their mind when they activated the machine. But since Percy hadn't really remembered, half of that data was lost. They only had the layout, not what monsters, how long, any of that stuff. For all he knew, Gaia could have managed to rise. He only had up to the point where he climbed into the machine, nothing after.

"I don't remember it," Percy hissed, crushing Nico's hopes of the machine working for his friend.

"This is where you fought Alycenus," he whispered back. "With Hazel and Frank. Coming back to you?" Percy shook his head no, before looking up, squinting.

"Geez, that thing's huge. Imagine falling off that!" Oh, the irony of that sentence.

"You did," Nico deadpanned. Percy glanced at him weirdly, like he thought the son of Hades was joking. When he saw how serious his face was, he shrugged.

"Huh. Is there anything I didn't do?"

"Well, you _almost _killed Jason once, according to Piper, but, then again, he almost killed you. Jason's the son of Jupiter," he added seeing his friend's confused look. "And Piper's daughter of Aphrodite, but don't underestimate her." Percy nodded, even though he had no idea who Nico was talking about.

"Right. Anyway, where were you when me and those kids were fighting and falling off glaciers?"

"In a bronze jar," Nico muttered. "In a trance." He must have been making no sense, because the son of Poseidon looked the glacier up and down before taking up his classic complaining.

"I'm bored!" he whined. "Isn't there any monsters to fight?"

"Percy!" Nico hissed. "You'll jinx it!"

Right at that moment, two passengers turned around, hissing and spitting. And walking towards them.

"Should we get them, Euryale?" one of them asked. The other nodded, fangs showing.

"Yes, Stheno. We will avenge Medusa!" With a cry and a lunge, they were flying towards the demigods, fangs bared.

Nico sent an exasperated look towards Percy, as the two drew their swords.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?" he accused. Percy shrugged, but he was grinning.

"Soz, but hey, at least we get to fight someone." With Riptide raised, he looked at the two snake ladies. "Let's do this."

And they charged.

Nico's number one rule for fighting monsters: don't lose your sword within the first five seconds. It doesn't really help.

As soon as the closest one, Stheno, had reached him, she grabbed his Styagon Iron sword, she casually tossed it away, like it hadn't even affected her. Nico grumbled under his breath. He saw that Percy was having similar problems – these women would reform instantly. Of course, Percy was too, but Nico wasn't. They couldn't keep it up forever, and the other passengers would notice soon.

"It's Gaia!" he told Percy, noticing that the other passengers and the driver was climbing onto the glacier, leaving them alone with the snake ladies. "She must have used the machine too." He got upset. "Reyna," he whispered, but nobody seemed to hear him.

"Well, how do we kill them?" Percy questioned, annoyed. "I don't want to be fighting them forever." He spotted his sword near the edge of the boat, and something else, something that was green… What it was doing on the boat, he didn't know, but it would be a lot of help. He turned to the son of Poseidon.

"I have an idea."

0000000000

The plan was risky, and would probably get them both killed along with Stheno and Euryale, but it seemed to be their only way. They'd had to be quiet whilst they were discussing it, but the ladies were discussing Percy, and how to find his weak spot. They weren't exactly quiet.

Eventually, they began to approach the demigods.

"Enough time wasted," Euryale hissed, literally. "We're going to get you now, demigods. Our mistress will be pleased. We will be rewarded greatly." They both leaped at them, but they were prepared.

"Percy, now!" Nico yelled. Percy raised his hands, and half a second later, a huge wave crashed onto the snake woman, soaking them. Whilst they moaned about how wet they were, and how they were _definitely _going to kill them now, Nico was making a desperate grab for his sword and the jar. He maneuvered himself around the shield that Percy had created, and scooped up the objects, being extra careful not to smash the jar.

"Release!" he shouted once he was ready. The huge wave of water slowly melted into the ocean as he climbed into the driver's section, where all the controls were. Nico was meant to wait here for Percy.

But when he looked outside, he saw a horrible sight. Percy was pale and stumbling about, with the snake women circling him mockingly. He seemed to be having some kind of fit, like the ones he'd had in the wiped version of his memories. Oh gods. Now was _not _the time to have one.

Nico didn't know what to do. He couldn't summon any of the dead, since he was in the water. He had a feeling that the only reason Poseidon hadn't made the boat sink was because his son was on board, and Nico was his friend. Percy was supposed to be setting an auto drive for the ship to crash into the land. Nico didn't know anything about ships. That was his uncle's domain.

Suddenly, a new plan formed in his head, even riskier than before.

He turned to the controls, pressing the auto drive button. He sent a prayer to his uncle, and just hoped. If this didn't work, he was so dead. To his amazement, he saw a course being layed in for it to crash. On the screen, it said: Now go and save Percy, or I'll make it crash while you're still on it.

Sending a silent thank you to Poseidon, Nico rushed outside, and dropped the jar of Greek fire.

000000000

To say that Greek fire was fast was an understatement. Nico watched with horror as it swept onto Stheno and Euryale, and they cried out with such pain that he almost felt sorry for them. But then he remembered Poseidon's message, and ran towards Percy.

His friend was still freaking out, falling over and shaking. Nico grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him off board, knowing that he would be safe. He glanced back at the ship for a minute, in flames and with tortured screams echoing. Then he turned and jumped off the ship.

In the first plan, they hadn't even used the Greek fire. It was chucked off the side at the end, and the rest of the time part of a precautionary thing. Percy was meant to safely usher them both off, and made sure they could breathe underwater whilst the ship finally reached its boiling point and exploded.

But now Percy was having one of his stupid fits, and there was no way to protect Nico from the explosion.

He desperately paddled as far as he could, attempting to drag the ill son of Poseidon with him. He almost slipped under several times; the water was freezing. It made him go numb, but he kept trying to swim away, get as far as he could from the boat.

BOOM! The ship exploded, creating a huge wave that swept towards them, carrying them up high. Nico could hear the dying screeches of Stheno and Euryale, and the panicked voices of the other passengers, stuck on the glacier until the next trip came. He could hear the driver wailing about his ship, his beautiful ship destroyed.

Then he was forced under, and he heard nothing.

Nico looked around frantically. His hair was floating around him, and he could see Percy drifting a bit away, perfectly content and unconscious. He began to awkwardly paddle towards him, but it was getting harder and harder to hold his breath. Eventually, he let some water up his nose, and he coughed and spluttered, drowning. He clawed at the water, trying to get back up but he couldn't. So the plan _had _killed him too.

Then, the water was moving around him, faster than should be possible. He once again saw Percy, soaking wet for the first time since Nico had ever seen him. He tried to breathe, but he couldn't. Then, he couldn't even _see_. Then he couldn't feel. Then he couldn't… he couldn't…

He crashed onto a beach, and he smiled, warm sand sticking to his face. Poseidon had rescued them.

Nico tried lifting his head, but he was too weak. He tried to move, but the most he could muster was a slight wiggle. It was something, at least.

His eyes opened slowly. Like he thought, he was washed up on a beach. Sand stretched for as far as he could see. He had no idea where he was, and he was too weak to Shadow Travel, he would be for a while. Looked like he was stuck there, then.

Groaning, he managed to flip himself over and looked up. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was so bright it hurt to look at. He glanced around. No sign of Percy.

"Some guide I am," he muttered.

He could hear Percy, now, in the distance. He was calling for Nico. The boy himself opened his mouth to reply but only managed to croak so quietly even he almost didn't hear it. There was no chance Percy would.

His time underwater had left him completely drained and exhausted, both physically and mentally. He wasn't comfortable in the air or the sea, it had to be the Underworld or camp. He tried to think back to the last time he went to camp, in the memories with the others in. it must have been a while. He couldn't even tell if he was thinking of the wiped timeline instead.

Nico wanted to move, to get up search for Percy, but he was just too tired. So he didn't even bother. He just closed his eyes.

000000000

In his dream, he saw a blurry figure standing above him. She was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't recognise her. When his vision cleared. He realised who it was.

"Rachel?" he gasped. She just looked at him with green eyes and mist swirling around her. How was she here?

Then he saw the sleeping form of Gaia watching him a few feet away. Rachel opened her mouth.

_"Sev – half – ds – ans – e – all,_

_"Stor – or – fi – th – rld – ill – fa,_

_"N – oa – o – eep – wi – fin – th,_

_"Nd – foe – be – ar – he – s – o – eath."_

_The prophecy is broken, Nico, _Gaia whispered. _Without the others, no one can stop me. _

**I'm going to update one a day, and then hopefully I'll write quickly. **


	4. Chapter 4 - Percy

**Sorry for not updating! Real life got in the way! **

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to say this again? I'm a girl. I'm English. I would not have sent Percabeth to Hell. I'm not Rick Riordan. I only own Billy and Ankhaile's domain. **

_The boy ran through the door, his friend following close behind. They ran through the corridors that had been silent before, now filled with the desperate shouting of the others. They were shouting at them, shouting for them. They were screaming in pain, shouting in horror._

_"Oh gods!" his friend shouted. "Something's seriously wrong!" The boy nodded, still running. "Hang on!" his friend yelled. "We're coming." Their shrieks started to die down._

_"We're not gonna make it in time!" the boy shouted. They ran, and opened the far door. They froze at the sight that lay before them, as their enemy chuckled, then screamed. _

**Percy **felt like a complete loser. He'd had one of his episodes while he was meant to be helping Nico. He remembered the smell of burning, and being dragged into water. Then someone was thrashing about, and he blacked out. He actually _blacked out _when he was meant to be helping kill those snake women.

So technically it was his fault that he was now trudging through miles of sand searching for the son of Hades.

He'd been going half a day now, and he felt exhausted. There wasn't a sign of Nico, and Percy just wanted to have a nice long drink. But it was weird; when he turned around the sea that brought them there had gone. He was alone, with only the heat and the sand for company.

He stumbled along the dry desert floor, longing to hear the gently sounds of the ocean, to know his father was there. But he knew that he was alone in this. Percy assumed Poseidon had helped them, but if that was true, the sea god wasn't supposed to be helping in the first place, so he doubted he would get more assistance now.

"Nico?" his voice cracked and sounded hoarse. Percy cleared his throat and tried a little louder. "Nico?!" He walked and strained to hear something, but nothing reached his ears.

Just then a harsh wind blew sand into his eyes. He groaned and rubbed at them, annoyed. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he have had one of stupid fits some other time?

That was when he spotted the limp body lying a few feet away. They were soaking, even in the middle of the desert, covered in black. Nico.

Percy began to run towards him, and now he could hear the faint muttering and curses coming from the body. Just as he was about to reach him, Nico began to sink into the ground. Slowly at first, but definitely lowering into the sand. Percy made a desperate sprint towards him, but Nico finally sunk fully under the grains as he arrived.

"No, no, no," Percy muttered as he stuck his hand under, trying to reach the son of Hades. "You are not getting captured by Gaia, you understand?" No answer, of course.

When his own hand grabbed a piece of clothing, and Aviators jacket, he wanted to whoop for joy, but began to tug harshly. He briefly wondered why _he _wasn't sinking, but waved that thought away. He had to concentrate.

The weight suddenly became a lot easier to pull, and within seconds he had tugged the jacket out of the ground. As in, just the jacket. Nico must have slipped out on the way up.

Percy growled in frustration slammed his hand into the ground. Nico was gone now, and what was to stop Gaia from wiping him too? Then the others would have no hope.

He looked around again. Where even was he? He blinked in confusion. The water was back, as if it had always been there. But when he tried to skim his hand through it, he could feel only sand. Oh, gods. He must be hallucinating. It must have been his thirst. He could swallow a gallon of water. Funny. He was completely submerged in water one moment, the next he would give anything to be back there.

His throat had clogged up. He just wanted a sip, just a single sip of water. Percy stumbled to his feet and squinted at the distance. Were there any cactuses to get water out of? No. there was just sand.

He wanted to collapse, but his mind refused to listen to his legs. He was Percy Jackson. He'd fought Titans and Gods and monsters. He was not going to be defeated by a desert. But he needed to hear it.

"I'm Percy Jackson," he whispered, but even then he could feel his exhausted eyes starting to drift closed. "I am the slayer of Kronos. I have fought titans. I have fought Gods. I have fought monsters. I have fought demigods. I have always won. I _will _win this battle. I will not be defeated. I will win this battle. I am Percy Jackson..."

He didn't know how long he'd been rambling. His lips were chapped and sore. The heat was driving him to his boiling point, and he regretted not wearing any sunscreen. He wanted to just lie down and never wake up, but that would be betraying the others. And Nico. He still had to rescue Nico.

Part of him wished that Gaia would take him too, just so he could be out of the unbearable heat. But another part chided himself for feeling that way, seeing as he'd be no use to the others locked up. The last part protested that he was no use to them walking and dying in a desert.

His legs were tired and numb, but he wasn't ready to give up yet. Percy suspected that his feet were bleeding, but he couldn't be too sure. He'd already had delusions today, so it wouldn't be anything new. But still, he refused to give up.

The sun was beating down on him. He needed water, and soon. But there wasn't any. Even when he looked into the distance, still no sign of civilisation.

000000000000

"You look tired."

Percy was lying on the floor, ready to give in to the desert. The sand stretched on for miles. There was no way he'd get there without collapsing anyway, and he'd probably die from thirst. He wanted to laugh bitterly. _After all I've been through, I'm beaten by lack of water. Of all things, the thing my father has full power over._

He finally opened his eyes to see the speaker, who turned out to be a young girl about his age, wearing a Greek dress and smiling. Just being close to her sent a whole new wave of burning heat towards him, but he was too tired to move away.

She helped him stand, much to his surprise. As he was leaning on her, the heat seemed to die down, though a warm feeling still remained. Her curly blonde hair reminded him of someone, but he just couldn't place it.

"Who are you?" his raspy voice whispered. She smiled kindly.

"I am Ankhiale, Greek goddess of heat. You and your friend wound up at my domain, don't ask me how. Gaia took your friend, but I surrounded you in my heat to protect you, but now I must get you away from here. Come with me."

Ankhiale led him away in another direction, but he was so tired he couldn't really concentrate. Sweat was pouring down his brow, but he had a feeling that Ankhiale was trying to make him cooler. Percy leant further against her, ready to pass out. She sighed.

"Go to sleep," she whispered into his ear, and he felt himself drifting off. "I'll carry you."

The last thing he saw was her honey blonde hair, and a memory flashing before his eyes of a girl with that hair and grey eyes, before he drifted off into a deep slumber.

When he was jolted from his sleep, Percy looked around frantically to find he was on a boat, with a grubby, overweight fisherman watching him warily. The man handed him a glass of water.

"That girl, she said you'll need a lot of water," he grunted as Percy eagerly downed the water. "My name's Billy, by the way. You?" He looked up to see Billy watching expectantly.

"Percy," his voice sounded hoarse and raspy. He had more water. "Percy." His voice was clearer this time.

Billy nodded, though he clearly wasn't comfortable having a total stranger in his boat.

"Well, that girl went off somewhere. Dunno where. Actually, I dunno where you came from." He shot Percy a suspicious look. Percy tried a weak smile.

"I was asleep," he tried, nervously. Then he looked around. He was sailing towards land, and the boat was surrounded by water. He'd never been so relieved to see his father's element. "Where am I now?"

"On your way to San Francisco. We'll be there in half an hour." Percy cocked an eyebrow. San Francisco? Seriously? Ankhiale had taken him _that _far?

_She's a goddess, stupid, _a voice in his head said. _And you don't even know where her 'domain' is. Who knows how far you've travelled? _But on the outside, he smiled politely as if this didn't surprise him at all.

"Well," he took another big gulp, finishing his water. "Thanks, but I think I'll swim from here." And with that, he jumped off the side of the rickety boat, ignoring the fisherman's incredulous look.

Under the water, Percy was able to travel much faster. He zoomed past fish telling him to slow down, trying not to wrinkle his nose at the amount of litter. He saw a hippocampi at one point, giving him a really confused look, like _what are you doing here? _Percy just smiled hurriedly and carried on.

When he climbed out, avoiding people so they wouldn't notice that he was dry, Percy stumbled, still weak, and tried to find a drachma in his pockets. He pulled out a single dirty one, and chucked it into the water.

"O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Nico di Angelo at Gaia's lair." That sounded cheesy, and he didn't think that it would work, but the mist shimmered and showed him an image of Nico.

The son of Hades didn't seem to notice the message, but carried on pacing in a small room made of dirt. There was no visible door, and Percy could see that his Styagon Iron sword obviously wasn't on him, along with the Aviators jacket, still abandoned in Ankhiale's domain. But, other than that, Nico was no different than he had looked in Alaska.

The ground rumbled in the mist, and Nico glanced down at it, annoyed.

"You filthy coward, Gaia. You aren't even facing me, and you're actually that weak that you have to capture me to stop me. You disappoint me."

_You disappoint **me**, son of Hades. When I took you, you were so weak you couldn't do more than lie there in the sand,_ Percy heard her say through the message. Nico scowled.

"Yeah? Well-" the message was cut off. The soft voice of Iris asked for another drachma, but Percy didn't have one, so he frowned and walked off. He needed to find Reyna. She would probably be able to help him. Just one problem – he had no idea where Camp Jupiter was.

0000000000

He must have been wandering about San Francisco for ages, and still no sign of anything. He was starting to feel the same way he had in Alaska; desperate for a monster to fight. He always chided himself for feeling that way, and assumed that it was the ADHD, but he was just bored.

Then he saw a house.

Almost immediately his legs began to buckle. His vision blurred, and Percy practically collapsed onto the floor. That familiar feeling came back to Percy. That feeling of being about to puke, and the feeling that he _should _know something, but he didn't.

He'd been lying when he told Nico that he didn't remember the glacier. It _had _stuck a cord in him, and the names his friend had mentioned rang bells, but no matter how hard Percy focused, the memory just wouldn't come back to him. When he was watching Stheno and Euryale, he'd recognised them, the things they said, how they treated each other. It had sent a tingle up his spine, and seconds later he'd had another fit. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Percy was beginning to suspect that the machine had worked for him after all, just not as well as they'd hoped. These fits always seemed to happen when something seemed just the slightest bit off, and now if they were familiar. He wondered where he'd seen this house before.

Someone came out of the house, a middle aged man with wacky hair. He saw Percy having his fit, and rushed out to him. The man seemed familiar to him as well, like he'd met him before. When he looked at him, he thought of helicopters and an old fashioned girl correcting something. But the memory was gone as soon as it had come, and the man carried him inside.

Even the inside of the house seemed familiar to Percy, as if he'd been there before. But on some family pictures, with two boys and a couple, he could almost see a teenage girl, the one with curly hair and grey eyes, at the side of the man. But when he did a double take, she was gone.

He was layed down on a couch, but he couldn't really concentrate. He vaguely heard some people muttering, and some smaller children being ushered out of the room. Then a woman filled his vision, asking if he was alright. Percy shook his head slightly, and she frowned sympathetically.

Pretty soon the fit was over, and he was sitting mortified in someone's living room, as the two adults observed him. The woman handed him a glass of water. He took it with a polite thanks.

"I'd better go check on the boys," she informed before walking out, leaving Percy alone with the man.

"So," the guy said awkwardly, adjusting his glasses. "You gonna explain what happened out there."

"Um – well – I – uh…" he stammered, before managing a lopsided grin. "I have these fits sometimes. They come randomly. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble." The man didn't seem bothered. In fact, he seemed intrigued.

"Epilepsy?" he questioned, looking Percy up and down, as if he was seeing the demigod in a completely new light. He grimaced and shook his head.

"No. Doctors don't know what it is, but they're not seizures. I'm Percy, by the way. Percy Jackson." He extended his hand, and the man grasped it firmly.

"I'm Frederick Chase." This name struck something in Percy, something deep down. Something buried, something he knew he should know.

Another fit took him by surprise, and Frederick called his partner back, for help. Percy himself was surprised. Fits didn't normally come this soon after the last. They were random. Like he said. But he was beginning to suspect more, especially with the familiar feeling. He had been getting it off Chase, but it was even worse now he knew his name. He should _know _this man. And not just him, someone else. Someone close to the both of them. He was hit by a memory of something heavy on him, and the sounds of a battle ringing around him.

He fell out of his chair, and onto the floor. The woman rushed back in, leaving the door wide open and the two boys from the photos gawking at him. Percy didn't care though. He cared about the girl he was starting to get flashes off. He remembered her kissing him, so this could only be one person, one that Nico mentioned several times. _Annabeth_.

It hit him like a ton of bricks. Hadn't he been listening to Nico? Of course it was Annabeth. Who else would be so close to him in all his memories? Percy still couldn't remember her completely, but little fragments had started coming back to him. And this man. This man was Annabeth's father.

But Annabeth had been wiped. So this man wasn't her father, not in this world.

Percy looked around the room. This was more than familiar. This was Annabeth's house. That was why he recognised it. It made him want to hurl, both physically and mentally. That was why he felt like he knew this place. Because he did.


	5. Chapter 5 - Reyna

**Sorry if Reyna seems a bit OOC in this chapter. I'm not really good at writing her, but I will try my best. Her last chapter was a bit boring, and it's come to my attention half way through writing this that this chapter is as well. So, hopefully the second half will have a little more action in it.**

_The boy watched the girl intently as she wandered around the room, aweing at every minor detail in the design of the weapons. He had to admit, there was some sort of intriguing beauty about the way they were designing, without flaws, in his opinion. Of course, she'd find a flaw. She always found a flaw._

_"They're amazing," she whispered, turning to face him, a small smile playing on her lips for the first time since he met her. "With these, we might actually have a chance of winning." Her posture straightened even more, something he hadn't even realised was possible. Her eyes seemed to light up, something very rare for anyone on the ship, especially her._

_"He only managed to create them because of the scrolls," he informed, his voice dry. "So really, we have an ancient genius to thank."_

_"I guess so," she murmured, fingers delicately dancing over a sword. "I never thanked, though. For rescuing me. I would have been executed as a traitor." His mouth ran dry. He'd always known that her people hated his, but never quite grasped the full lengths of it before._

_"You're welcome," he sighed. "Though at best we probably just delayed your death. I think we're going to die." He raised his head, looking her in the eye. "All of us."_

**Reyna **was getting sick of the earthquakes. They almost always happened when she was about to tell the citizens of New Rome about the Greeks, which couldn't be a coincidence. Gaia was trying to shut her up.

But it just made her want to speak up even more.

Her mother didn't send her any more dreams. Reyna just had that one, that one to try and convince her that these people were important. More important than her finally being good enough.

She kind of wished that di Angelo and Jackson had never contacted her, never tried to include her in all of this. Why couldn't she just sit back and watch as someone else did the work, or just let these people be wiped forever? But no. she couldn't condemn these people to death like that, even if their lives seemed miserable. They deserved the chance to live.

She would have to do something about it. She would have to help them, regardless of whether or not the Greeks came for her.

As she stared at the sea of legionnaires' faces, she felt nausea creeping up her throat. Reyna swallowed and took a deep breath, hoping that leaving him in charge wouldn't do more damage than good.

"I'm going to be leaving," she announced, resisting the urge to wince at the amount of grumbled complaints amongst the people. She glanced at Octavian, who was staring at her curiously, almost daring her not to share more information.

"For how long, Praetor Reyna?" That was Haley Ammor, standing amongst the other legionnaires, looking perfect as ever. Reyna wanted to throttle this girl for bringing up that subject as the stares from the others became more intense.

"Oh, not long," she lied, ignoring the accusing stare of her fellow praetor. "A solo quest, of sorts. Octavian knows all about it." She gestured to the man himself, knowing that she possibly just made the biggest mistake of her life. He glared at her before smiling tightly at the crowd, as if he had indeed known. "Whilst I am gone, Octavian…" Reyna had to force the words out her mouth. "Will take full control of New Rome. Thank you."

And she rushed out the senate without a backwards glance, before Octavian could catch her and demand an explanation as to what he was doing.

Walking through the streets of San Francisco, Reyna didn't expect Percy Jackson to run into her, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. She could hear confused muttering coming from the house he had run out of, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was doing there.

Her ankle had erupted in pain, and she groaned as she shoved him off her, rubbing at her sore foot. Reyna could already tell she'd at least twisted it, maybe sprained. Because Percy had come barrelling into her.

"Jackson!" she hissed. "What in Pluto do you think you're doing?" He looked up at her, eyes wide and unfocused.

"I -" he panted, obviously out of breath. "Annabeth – home – forget her?" This made no sense to Reyna, but Percy was pretty distressed. He looked in fear at the people coming out the house, watching him with concern. She sighed impatiently as she limped up to her feet, grimacing as she shifted weight onto her left ankle, the hurt one. Jackson supported her as he got the silent message to leave, casting one last sad look back at the house and the people.

After walking in silence for ten minutes, Reyna decided it was probably best not to pry, as Percy seemed like the normally open type, so if he wasn't sharing it must be something pretty dramatic. She'd have to ask eventually, but she just hoped he would trust her enough to tell her.

She listened carefully as Percy described his and di Angelo's fight with Stheno and Euryale, sisters of Medusa. He proceeded to talk about his time in the desert, and her blood ran cold when she heard that Gaia had taken Nico. That was one less person to help them, and di Angelo was the one with all the knowledge.

"So, Billy brought me to San Francisco, I saw Nico, and then I ran into you." Reyna could tell he was leaving something out, like why he was at that house, but chose not to say anything. She knew what it was like to have someone nosy asking questions. She'd known Octavian long enough to realise.

"Well, what now? I mean, we need a plan, obviously, to get your friend back. Now, I might be able to convince Gwen-" she faltered. She kept forgetting that Gwen, her best friend who she trusted completely, was dead. Killed in the war with Kronos. Tears filled her eyes, and she wanted to slap herself for being so ridiculous and wimpy. What would her mother think? Gwen was a soldier. They'd had a war. There was going to be casualties.

Percy's face visibly lightened.

"Oh, Gwen." He frowned. "I _think _I know her. I remember her coming back to life." Reyna's mouth felt dry. She briefly wondered how Percy knew her, but tossed that thought aside as irrelevant.

"She's dead. She died in the Titan war."

"What?!" Percy glared at her, as if he thought she was lying. "No she didn't. I barely even remember her, but she didn't die in the Titan war. Hades, I met her _after _the Titan war." Reyna scowled at his obviously false claim, but didn't pursue the matter. She already knew it was no use arguing with Percy Jackson.

"So, a plan," she said, just to change the subject. It would be no use if they started arguing. "It looks like I won't be able to convince anyone from the legion to help out, so it'll probably just be the two of us. Unless there's anyone you think would come on this quest with us?" Reyna studied his face carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Percy's features clouded with emotion for a second, and it was almost as if a battle of wills was going on inside his mind. But eventually he just shook his head.

"No. No, not really." He paused, and silence reigned, until he glanced at her apprehensively, like he was contemplating whether or not to trust her.

After a couple of minutes, he seemed to make up his mind.

"It's weird," Percy announced in the quiet, startling her. He chuckled a bit, obviously loving the fact that he'd managed to spook her. She scowled a little – it wasn't usual for her to be creeped that easily. It was just that she was really jumpy lately.

"What's weird?" Reyna grumbled, still miffed. Percy's smile faded as he stared out into the distance.

"Annabeth. When you asked who I thought I could trust, I didn't think of Malcolm being with me on all my quests. I thought of Annabeth. I barely remember her, but it's coming back a little. I just know that I love her…" His voice trailed off. He stared wistfully back in the direction they'd come from. "That was her house," he said in a quiet voice.

Reyna nodded in understanding. She soon drifted deep into thought. She wished she had someone special. Her mind wandered to Jason. She was sure she felt that way about him, though he obviously didn't return those feelings. The brunette's. Reyna wondered – before she was wiped, what was her name? That made her feel terrible. She didn't even know most of their names. Something told her that Percy only knew Annabeth, and possibly a couple others.

She wanted to scream with frustration. Why was life so difficult? To her in particular?

"Percy," she murmured. "What are we gonna do? How are the two of us going to get Nico and defeat Gaia? Haven't we done enough for the gods?" He gave her a long, sad look.

"Apparently not."

"So, where would Gaia have taken Nico?" she finally asked, finally trying to get on with this 'plan' they kept mentioning. Percy looked at her as if she was stupid, something which surprised her. It was normally _her _giving _him _that look.

"Underground," he said slowly, as if talking to a two year old. "In her domain." Reyna wanted to face palm. She'd been so wrapped up in changing the subject she hadn't realised how much of a stupid question that was.

"I mean, whereabouts," she stumbled over her words, trying to regain a little dignity and massively failing. But, to her relief, Percy didn't point and laugh. He just smirked in a knowing way.

"Somewhere obvious," he finally settled on. "It's probably a trap to catch us as well." Her Roman training kicked in at those words.

"Trap?" Suddenly she didn't feel so eager to rescue di Angelo. "If it's a trap, why are going to find him? What's the point? Why walk into a trap?" She turned and narrowed her eyes at Jackson. "Are you sure you want to rescue Nico?"

"I rescued him once before," he retorted. "I rescued him from a _bronze jar_. With..." his voice trailed off. "With Jason." _Jason_. There was that name again. Everyone seemed to be using that name around her now.

She wished she remembered him.

"How's your ankle?"

"Better."

* * *

"Well, this is just great!" Percy exclaimed. Reyna had to agree, though she didn't voice her thoughts. She was too busy looking for a way out of this.

They were suddenly surrounded by teenage kids in hoodies. They all had knifes, and the main one, the leader, was grinning at them evilly.

"Look, I don't have any money on me," Percy told them, biting his lip. Honestly, showing weakness was stupid. Percy had surely been through worse than a bunch of gangsters. But Reyna was a little worried herself. They weren't really walking like thugs. They were straight backed with perfect postures. Something told her these were no ordinary kids.

"We don't want your money," one told them in a hollow voice, sending shivers through her spine. Percy looked equally as creeped out, scowling at the boy.

"Well, could you leave us alone, then? We _really _don't have time for this." He said it in an annoyed voice, but he was obviously as scared as she was, which was surprisingly more than you'd expect.

The leader laughed in a noise that sounded like metal grating together, causing Reyna to shuffle unconsciously closer to Percy. One of the first rules in the legion; _always have support. Never go into battle alone. _Not that having support had helped Gwen much.

"I'm afraid I cannot just let you go," he said in the same hollow voice the other had used. He stepped forward, holding a knife out. "My orders are to kill you." His eyes glowed gold for a second, almost blinding the daughter of Bellona. When they faded, Percy looked ill.

"Eidolons," he whispered. "You – you possessed someone on the ship. Made him blow up New Rome." This made no sense to Reyna, but all the 'Eidolons' made that sickening laugh again.

"Yes, the Valdez boy. Gaea has told us of what we did, and it's quite a shame that the child of Aphrodite drove us out. But she's gone now..." It made the laugh again. "And there's nothing you can do to stop us."

One of the Eidolons slumped over, startling Reyna into scrambling back. All her years of training went out the window. She'd never been so scared.

Because these weren't like monsters she could just slaughter and send to Tartarus. They possessed people apparently, so if she hurt them she hurt the host. She couldn't just kill an innocent. And she didn't even know what these things looked like. How can you fight something you can't see?

Percy shuddered and turned to face her in slow, robotic movements. She stepped away unconsciously.

"Percy?" she asked in a shaky voice, mentally chiding herself for being so weak. "Percy? Are – are you alright?" He took a slow step towards her, uncapping Riptide. "Percy?" He raised his sword. "Percy?"

The next moment seemed to go in slow motion. He lunged towards her, robotic but graceful. She only just managed to dodge, though she did get a rather deep cut on her arm. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying. She was alone against these..._things_, and now she didn't even have Percy to help her.

Thinking about it, it was logical to possess Percy. They had now eliminated the biggest threat, someone who had faced them before and was an incredible fighter, if what he'd achieved was anything to go by. And she was obviously most scared.

Another Roman rule; _Eliminate your greatest opponents first. _These spirits must have been smart.

A horrible thought occurred to her. If they'd taken over Percy, what was to stop them taking over her? She wasn't safe. And she couldn't even fight the Eidolon properly, because that would mean hurting Percy.

Why did life have to be so complicated?

Percy stepped towards her, grinning. But it wasn't his usual, playful smirk. This was full of coldness, hatred and anger. She whimpered and backed away. Her mother must have been horrified at her daughter's cowardly behaviour, but Reyna didn't care for the first time ever. These things really scared her.

She looked around desperately at her surroundings, taking in how dark the alleyway was, how damp and slippery the floor was. She looked back at Percy, whose body seemed to be enjoying itself, but eyes were filled with panic. He was slowly driving her into a corner, backed up by the other teenagers. The one that collapsed had been abandoned.

Slowly and shakily, Reyna drew out her sword, just wanting to run and hide. But she had no hope of surviving without putting up a fight.

She looked into Percy's eyes, which were watching her with conflicted emotions.

"Oh Percy," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

Then she raised her knife and charged.

* * *

Percy lept out of her way, to both her disappointment and relief. She caught the leader in the arm, making him yelp and drop the knife. She grinned a little smugly to herself, before crying out herself when another leaped onto her from behind, shoving her against the wall and making her drop her own sword.

She cursed and fumbled, hand scrabbling desperately to reach her fallen weapon. It was no use though. She saw it discarded a couple feet away, presumably kicked in scuffle.

She had broken another rule; _Never turn your back to an enemy._ And another; _Don't get too cocky._ And another; _Never let yourself be distracted. _

With a burst of energy, she pushed backwards and sent an Eidolon sprawling to the ground. She tried to ignore the young girl, but she reached out a foot and tripped Reyna up. The daughter tumbled to the ground, and felt a shoe on her back, pinning her to the ground. Percy.

She clawed desperately for her sword, but another foot stepped on her fingers, crushing them under his heel. Her sore ankle had gone dodgy again, and she was now completely trapped.

Reyna had jumped out of the pan and into the flames.

She felt Percy's body slide on top of hers, making it extremely difficult to breathe. Her free hand reached out for her sword, but it was just out of reach from her fingertips. She felt like crying. She would be killed by these things.

A lone, salty tear did in fact trickle down her cheek and splashed onto the wet pavement below her. It had begun to rain, but she knew she was crying. She didn't want to die. She'd been through too much to die now.

But it looked like the Eidolons had other ideas.

Reyna saw the shine of a sword in the dark night, swinging towards her. And she knew she wouldn't make it through the rest of the night.

**I'm pleased with the Eidolon bit. I hope I finally got some good action in Reyna's POV, and didn't just fail epicly. I hope you liked it! **


	6. Chapter 6 - Nico

**Okay, implied Percabeth, Frazel, Jiper and Leyna. I actually think that Hazel and Leo would be good friends, and same for him and Piper. At the same time, I ship Liper, Lazel _and _Leyna. I find it amusing how only Leo can get away with being with three totally different girls. But, for this story, I'm trying to have the most canon couples, even if Leo doesn't _actually _have a crush on Reyna, or vice versa, as far as I know. **

**This chapter is mostly flashbacks, and once HoH is out, will probably deviate from canon loads. But, ah well! I'm not Rick Riordan (Disclaimer) so I don't know what will happen in the fourth book. If you're reading this in months' time when the book is out, bear with and remember that at the time of writing only the first three books are out. Don't laugh at my naivety (I don't think that's how you spell that word.) **

**Anyway, sorry for leaving the update so long. I find my other story much harder to write than this, so...yeah. And, I broke up with my boyfriend. But, we're still good friends and pretty close. Just not in _that _way. **

_He was freaking out on the inside. Seriously, he was **freaking out**. On the outside, as well. Oh gods. What was he meant to **do**?_

_He pulled his friend out, who was standing still in shock and horror. His girlfriend had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she was reaching a hand out to him. His friend had extended his own hand, but didn't move._

_He tugged his friend out and slammed the door behind them, breathing heavily. His sister had been there, screaming his name. Their enemy had been shrieking in his ears. It had taken a lot of will power to even consider leaving the others._

_His friend seemed to shake himself out of his shock. The boy barely had time to think before his friend was freaking out even more than he had been._

_"Why – why did you do that?" he yelled, his own tears finding their way onto his cheeks. "I could have helped her!"_

_"No," the boy said, shaking his head. "You can only help her by doing **exactly **as I tell you."_

**Nico **was bored.

The continuous dripping was annoying him. Seriously, he thought that being a damp, dark cell with the dripping noise was in books or movies. Apparently it was true, or Gaia was just trying to show off. For some reason, he suspected it was the latter.

He got up and paced. He waited. He got food. He got drink. He didn't want to consume anything that his sworn enemy had given him, but after several hours' time basic hunger took over and he ate what he'd been given, basic gruel. Much to his surprise, Gaia _hadn't _poisoned him. Huh. Maybe she wanted him alive.

His suspicions were confirmed when one minute he was in his cell, the next he was in a large hall, with Gaia standing in front of him. A small smile was playing on her lips, similar to the one she'd had when he saw her before he'd slammed the door, one of triumph and victory.

_Nico di Angelo, _her sleepy voice whispered in his mind. _You are my prisoner once again. _He gritted his teeth as he felt the earth slowly begin to creep up his ankles. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of having him answer.

She chuckled slowly.

_The silent treatment, I see? Well, we'll have to do something about that._

Almost instantly, an agonising pain shot through his body, and he groaned. Nico quickly clamped his mouth shut, trying not to let any more sounds escape him. He _refused _to let Gaia know that he was hurt.

_Hydra venom, _she mused. A shiver ran through Nico at how creepy she sounded. _One injection isn't enough to kill you, but enough to give you deep pain. _And, didn't he know _that_. Annabeth had drilled it into his head in the normal timeline, ensuring that he knew what could and what couldn't kill you. She wouldn't have him die whilst he was searching for Percy.

"What-" he managed to choke out, before taking a deep breath. "What do you want?"

Gaia narrowed her closed eyes, as if shocked he was playing along. To be honest, so was he. He just figured that if he told her non-important information, or even false intel, and she might let him go.

But that was wishful thinking and he knew it.

_What do I want to know? _She considered for several seconds. Nico fidgeted nervously. He was deep underground, but he was _freezing. _He missed his Aviator's jacket. Percy had grabbed it before he'd sunk under, desperately clawing for the surface. He would never admit it, but he'd never been more scared.

"Yeah," he said boldly standing a little straighter. "Yeah. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you."

Silence.

_How did you know what to do?_

Oh. _Oh. _He should have guessed that Gaia would ask that, of all questions. The one question he didn't have the capability to answer.

Because the memory stream hadn't worked completely for Nico, either. He didn't know how he'd managed to know what Gaia had been doing, and how to do exactly what she'd done to get the memories back. He didn't remember. He didn't even know if it was painful, because his memories were only up to the point of him climbing into the machine. In fact, he had no way of knowing if Percy had even climbed in after him. He'd just assumed that he had.

Thinking of Percy, Nico wondered how the son of Poseidon was getting on. Had he made it to San Francisco, and found Reyna? Or was he stuck in that desert, searching for the son Hades? Nico hoped not.

He hoped that Percy would rescue him, as he had from the bronze jar. But that time he'd had Jason with him, and whilst he was sure Reyna would be more than capable, this was different. This wasn't just two giants, this was _Gaia_. And Percy had had Leo and Hazel and Frank to suddenly arrive on the ship. Those three were gone now. Along with Annabeth, Piper and Jason himself. Wiped.

Nico felt loss once again at the lives of the others, who hadn't just died, but had _never existed_. But, also, wouldn't that mean that Marie Levesque would have lived longer? And, Leo had mentioned that his mother's death had been his fault. Did that mean his mum was alive, too?

Gaia was watching him expectantly, unmoving. He swallowed the bile in his throat. How did he answer this?

Oh, right. He'd have to lie.

The throbbing had dulled, just aching a bit now. He automatically breathed a sigh of relief, whilst his mind desperately searched for something to say.

"Reyna told me," he said, and soon as the words slipped out he regretted them.

Gaia's head turned sharply.

_What?!_

Stupid, stupid, stupid. The words flowed around his head. Now she'll be after Reyna as well.

"Yeah," he found himself saying. Because, honestly, now he'd started what was the point in stopping? "She told me what happened, right before…" he trailed off. He didn't want to say it.

_Before she died, _Gaia finished for him. _Before she sacrificed herself to stop me._

And Nico hoped, more than anything, that she wouldn't have to do it a second time.

Of course, he'd been warned that the two of them might die.

* * *

_"You shouldn't be here."_

_"Neither should you."_

_The boy shuffled under his sister's gaze, trying not to meet her gaze._

_"It's dangerous for you," he said. "You don't know much about this world. Or at least, not that much. And Gaia wants to personally kill you." She narrowed her eyes at him._

_"I can look after myself," she said, raising her head higher. "It's **you **who almost died. It's **you **that needs looking after." She paused, biting her lip. "It's **you **that's not one of the seven."_

_He knew what she meant. It was **him **that wouldn't be protected if the gods chose to help them. It was **him **that wasn't one of the important ones. It was **him **that was in the most amount of danger._

_He knew what she meant. It was **him **that wouldn't be protected if the gods chose to help them. It was **him **that wasn't one of the important ones. It was **him **that was in the most amount of danger._

_"You're my sister, Haze," he said, moving slowly towards her, wincing internally as she shuffled back. "I care about you. And, as you're one of the seven Gaia wants to kill you more. I want to make sure you're safe." She scoffed. __"Yeah, right. I **am **your sister, but I'm not the one you want, am I?"_

_As soon as the words were out her mouth, she looked guilty, slamming her hand over mouth. But it was too late to take back the words._

_Silence rained the room. He blinked, tears welling up in his eyes at the mention of his older sister._

_His other sister removed the trembling hand from her mouth._

_"I'm sorry-" she began, looking truly apologetic, but he cut her off before she could finish._

_"Save it," the boy snapped, glaring at her as she bit her lip and looked down, shuffling nervously. "If that's how you feel, then fine!"_

_He stormed towards the door._

_"I'm sorry," she whispered, right before he slammed the door behind him. _

* * *

"Yeah," he said, his mouth feeling like cardboard. He'd just gotten Reyna into trouble, and if Gaia found out that he was lying…

_How did she acquire this knowledge? _Gaia's voice was steely. Nico bit his lip. What should he say?

"I dunno," his gravelly voice finally ended up saying. "And I guess I never will. She never used the memory stream. This version of her won't remember."

There. That should do. Gaia would believe that, right?

Apparently she did, as Nico found himself in a newer cell, with clean walls and a bed and even a bowl of fruit. According to his guard, a _dracenae_, he was supposedly answering all Gaia's questions now, so he got better living quarters.

"You may fool her," she sneered. "But you don't fool me. You're not working for her. You're not even telling the truth." She grinned, showing all her sharp fangs. "And when she finds out, you are going to be in _ssssssssssooo _much trouble."

On that note, she strode off, hissing with laughter.

Nico was no fool. He knew she'd locked the door behind her.

He perched awkwardly on the edge of the bed, legs swinging back and forth. The room seemed nice enough, if a bit bare. But why was Gaia being nice to him? He'd only answered two questions.

Then again, answering those questions could have either been the worst mistake he'd ever made or the best move he'd ever played. Well, he'd soon find out.

His attention drifted to the wall, where a single photograph rested. His heart clenched as he saw it. That photograph was familiar. Of course it was. He'd been there when it had been taken.

* * *

_Most of the others were on the opposite side of the deck, making battle plans. The girl was doing most the planning, for once actually working with his friend's girlfriend. The two of them were taking ideas and suggestions from mainly the soldier, the beauty and his sister's boyfriend. His friend was eating blue candy, and his sister's eyes would dart up to him every few seconds, apology in her eyes._

_"Hazel's pretty upset, you know," a voice drawled from beside him, and the boy jumped, turning to face the speaker. The navigator grinned and leaned against the side of his creation, crossing his arms. "She's acting dead guilty, and you seem really mad at her. You two have an argument?"_

_The boy looked away from the grinning navigator, sighing. He knew his sister was sorry, and on some level she had been right when she said what she'd said. But he just couldn't find himself to forgive her._

_"Something like that," he muttered, scanning the ocean. He'd never been fond of water, but anything seemed better than the navigator's smirk trained on him. "Not that it's any of your business."_

_The navigator chuckled at that, standing up straighter and moving away from the edge, close to the boy._

_"I guess," he said, voice low. "But it's really obvious. You're not exactly discrete. Frank's planning on confronting you about upsetting her. No offence, but I don't think you'd stand a chance against him if it came to it." An image flashed across the boy's mind of his sister's overprotective boyfriend who was super large and super strong. And he could shape-shift. Couldn't forget the shape-shifting._

_Yeah, he wouldn't stand a chance. _

_"So, if I were you," the navigator continued, grinning even wider at the look on the boy's face. "I'd make things up with her, and soon." _

_"How am I meant to do that?" he demanded. The navigator shrugged._

_"Sorry, can't help you there, mate. Oh!" His eyes lit up. "**GROUP PHOTOGRAPH!**"_

_The boy watched in amusement as the girl's head snapped up, pure anger written on her face, but it softened as soon as she saw who'd been speaking. The others looked a little confused, but got into the places that the navigator practically dragged them into. The boy smirked as the navigator began setting up a camera from scratch (how he did that never ceased to amaze the boy) and scowled at his sister's boyfriend as he tried to edge away. The boy turned to leave…_

_…And his wrist was latched onto._

_He whirled around to see the navigator glaring at him with a burning intensity in his eyes._

_"Where do you think **you're **going?!" he demanded, scowling._

_"I-uh…" the boy stammered a bit nervously. He **really **didn't want to be in this picture._

_It must have shown on his face, as the navigator's face hardened._

_"Oh no you don't," he growled. "You're not going **anywhere **except for where your friends are." His gaze softened a little, even though his hand didn't. "You're part of this team, Nico. It's time you accepted that."_

_So the boy was forced to stand next to his sister, who stiffened and sent him an apologetic look. The navigator put the camera on automatic and glared at anyone who tried to move. He wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders, who, surprising, didn't shrug him off. The boy rose his eyebrows at that. He'd known they were crushing on each other, but **definitely **hadn't known that they'd gotten together._

_The camera flashed and took the photo. _

* * *

Nico studied the picture. There he was, eyebrows raised at Leo and Reyna. Percy and Annabeth were leaning into each other, Hedge was watching them with a stern gaze, Jason had a surprised look on his face, and Piper was laughing at just that. Frank was trying to hold Hazel the way Percy was holding Annabeth, but he wasn't very good at it. Hazel just looked uncomfortable at the fact she was next to her brother.

It captured all of their personalities perfectly.

Out of all the ones on the picture, four were still around now.

Hedge had stayed on the ship as the others infiltrated the base. He was still grieving over the death of Mellie, who'd sacrificed herself to close the Doors of Death. Nico never found out what happened to the coach once the others had been wiped.

He was probably still in this timeline, attacking monsters with a baseball bat and never truly finding meaning to his life.

Nico felt sort of guilty if he'd been wiped as well, even though it was highly unlikely, and it wouldn't even be his fault. But, then again, everyone always blamed themselves.

* * *

_"Do you ever feel like people's deaths were all your fault?" the navigator slurred, an empty alchahol bottle in his hand. The soldier grunted as a confirmation, finishing in his own bottle in a final, long swig. His friend was quick to follow._

_See, the coach had decided that they all needed 'bonding time'. The boy knew that the girls were having movie marathons, watching all sorts of films that the boys would all undoubtedly find super boring._

_Whilst in the dining room wondering what to do, the navigator had unlocked a cupboard and brought out several bottles of alchahol, of which type the boy had no idea, and offered them to the other boys._

_"Who wants to get drunk?" he'd asked._

_The boy and his sister's boyfriend had opted to remain sober, at which the navigator had shrugged._

_"Your loss," he'd simply said, handing the soldier and his friend bottles, who'd both eagerly accepted. Cue three drunk heroes._

_Some part of the boy knew that they were breaking the law, being underage, but the other part didn't really care._

_But, while at fifteen and sixteen the others were drinking, he was younger than them. And, he just didn't want to get drunk._

_His sister's boyfriend looked queasy just **looking **at the bottle._

_"Oh yeah," his friend answered the navigator's question, slamming his bottle on the table so hard the boy winced. "Beckendorf, Silena, Michael Yew…" his voice slurred even more than the navigator's had, and that was saying something. "All my fault." The soldier grunted again._

_"All those people, who went into battle under my lead. I wonder sometimes, if I hadn't been in charge, would they still be here today?"_

_"My mum," the navigator said sadly. "If I hadn't been born, she wouldn't have died."_

_So. They went all philosophic and depressed when drunk._

_Interesting._

_And that, of course, was great. Just great._

_His sister's boyfriend shuffled a little nervously – he was obviously uncomfortable with being in the same room as lawbreakers. But then, the boy thought with a smirk, none of them were ever ones to follow the rules._

_But at least they **were **bonding, though. Even if three of them were only doing it over alchahol and depressing thoughts. _

_"What about you?" the navigator asked, unfocused eyes swivelling onto the boy. "You ever feel guilty 'bout someone movin' on?"_

_"Yeah," he said sadly, a grim smile on his face. "Oh **yeah**."_

* * *

Nico remembered how Leo had grinned proudly at that, clicking his fingers and declaring that, _"I knew it! I knew there was something…off about you." _Any other time someone would say something like that, he would threaten them, but this was **Leo**, who was a nice guy really, and more than a bit drunk when he'd said it.

**Leo**, who'd now been erased from history, along with one other drunk and one sober.

He never had taken Leo's advice. He never had made up with Hazel.

And he still regretted it.

He had a headache, but he suspected that it was **nothing **compared to what the others had felt in the morning.

* * *

_The navigator groaned on the crouch, making the boy's head snap towards him. The other boy sat up sharply, a shaking hand coming to his forehead._

_"I feel awful," he said, the sound slightly muffled under his friend's snores from across the room. "I have a **killer **headache." He winced at a particularly loud snore. "What happened?"_

_"You have a hangover," the boy informed, coming over and plopping himself next to the navigator. "Or at least, I assume you do. That tends to happen after consuming lots of alchahol."_

_The navigator lowered his hand and looked at the boy with horror and embarrassment written plainly all over his fault._

_"I got drunk?" he asked flabbergasted. The boy raised his eyebrows._

_"Look around. What do you think?"_

_The navigator scanned the room, obviously taking in the empty bottles and the two other boys that looked as bad as he probably felt. When he saw the ajar cupboard, that was enough evidence. He groaned and lay back._

_"I really did, didn't I? We're in the middle of a war and we got **drunk**! Not to mention a **really** bad hangover." He mumbled a few curses under his breath. Then, louder, "I just wanna sleep all day!"_

_"Tough," the boy replied, beginning to chuckle. "You have a ship to drive."_

_The navigator shot him the dirtiest look he'd ever seen._

_"What's so funny?" he demanded. "Why are you laughing? And, how come **you **don't have a hangover?" He was fuming, literally by this point._

_"Whoa, calm down," the boy reprimanded. "And, to answer your question, **I **didn't get drunk. **I'm **not that stupid." The navigator huffed and buried his face in a cushion._

_"Oh god," he finally said, the sound muffled so the boy almost didn't hear it. He looked up, true terror in his eyes. "The coach is going to kill me!" The boy couldn't help it – he burst out laughing. The navigator shot him a look even filthier than before, if that was possible._

_"And Percy and Jason," he got out through laughs. "You won't be alone." The navigator raised his eyebrows._

_"I take it Frank didn't get drunk either?"_

_"Nope," the boy quipped. "So he won't stick up for you either." He burst out laughing again. He was **so **glad he'd chosen **against **getting drunk._

_The navigator muttered something about evil sons of Hades and stupid oxen leaving him to his misery before stumbling out of the room and up onto the deck._

_"Why do I have such a bad headache?" his friends' voice said from across the room. The boy sighed._

_Oh dear._

_He had a feeling this conversation would go very similarly to the last. _

* * *

Nico chuckled at the memory. He'd give anything for a moment like that now.

**I'm quite proud of this chapter. I might do Nico's next one in a similar style. ** **Shoutout to sammy1223 for the idea, even if I did have some normal story in there as well. **

**I'm not sure what the legal drinking age is in America. I think it's 21, but I only know England's, which is 18. Either way, they're underage. **

**If you're confused on who is who; **

**Nico; the boy ****Percy; his friend ****Reyna; the girl ****Leo; the navigator ****Jason; the soldier **

**Piper; the beauty ****Hazel; his sister ****Frank; his sister's boyfriend Annabeth; his friend's girlfriend Hedge will be the coach. **


End file.
